Picking up the asparagus, Regina smiles as she knows this is Henry's favorite vegetable. She couldn't get the boy to eat anything else. She spent countless days trying to coax him into trying another food, perhaps yogurt or her personal favorite, apples. But Henry, he was stubborn and strong willed. Another quality the adopted boy seemed to possess from her.
Regina turns to walk toward the checkout, pushing a cart full of only the healthiest of foods for her precious Henry. The cashier rings up everything in record time, which is convenient because Regina has to meet Henry and Daniel at the stables. Daniel. Just saying his name in her head makes Regina smile. Daniel is her husband of twelve years, her heart and soul. She falls undeniably in love with him everyday. He always does and says the right things. Daniel took her out of a bad situation, and helped her restart her life. He has been her savior.
Regina blinks, realizing she zoned out. Pushing her cart to the exit, she walks out into the parking lot before registering what's wrong. Looking around, everything is beginning to fade into black and white. The sky, the jug of orange juice without pulp, her blood red nails. Regina's stomach starts to churn, knowing that something horrible and life changing has happened. From the pure age of five, her world had been in black and white. She felt nothing but gloom and despair. She wanted nothing more than to lay in bed and cry most days. Her mother was abusive. Not physically, but mentally and emotionally. She would tell Regina that she was worthless, that she would never amount to anything. And on her bad days, Regina would believe this. But then Daniel came, and he loved her. He showed her love, and Regina felt what it was like to experience it. She began to see color again. Everything was a bit brighter and a bit nicer. He taught her how to love herself. He's her first love, her true love. Daniel taught her that true love is magic. Daniel and Henry are her world, the only things she truly love. Now that her world was fading into black and white, Regina knew that it would go crashing down all over again. Regina rushes to her black Mercedes. She gets in, forgetting about the speed limit. Driving faster than she ever had before, she reaches the stables while breaking only a few laws. She runs to her horse Rocinante's pen, and notices he's gone. Henry's rode him, she thinks. The thought of her little brown eyed boy climbing on the back of her old friend makes her smile. Regina leaves the pen and walks around back, wondering where her boys are. She smiles at her old apple tree, her comfort and safe zone before she met Daniel. Remembering why she was here and not at the grocery store, she quickly snaps out of it.
"Daniel! Henry!" Regina yells, hoping one of them will hear her.
"Henry, my boy, if you can hear momma call out!" Regina listens and she hears a small whimper.
"Henry? Can you hear me baby? Momma's here, you can come out." Regina hears footsteps and she turns. Her little boy, wide eyed and curious of the world, looked small and broken. His shirt was torn and blood was seeping from the right side of his head.
"Oh baby, what happened?" Regina is beyond frightened and confused as she coos to her boy who looks dazed.
Henry only takes her hand and drags her down the hill. Regina becomes even more panicked than she already is when realizing this MUST be where Daniel is.
"Henry, where is Daddy at?" Regina slowly asks the young boy, who has tears running down his face.
Henry pulls Regina to an oak tree sitting in the center of a grove. Regina notices blood on the ground leading up to a foot. Walking around the tree, she sees him. She sees Daniel. His broken and mangled body looks crushed. Blood is seeping into his favorite pair of black jeans, his scruffy brown hair a mixture of blood and dirt. Hoof prints are scattered on his body, across his face, on his chest, his heart. As if the horse decided to dance on Daniel, killing him in minutes while poor Henry watched while a horse went wild and murdered his father.
"Oh Daniel. Oh Daniel. My love. " Regina chokes out. Tears stream freely down her face, smearing her once perfectly done makeup. She drops to the ground, and clutches his chest.
"No. NO. No Daniel. NO." She screams. Her throat becomes hoarse and she can feel Henry hugging her back, crying softly into it. She can't breathe, and she feels like her world has been shattered. Her throat is on fire, and she clutches his lifeless body to her chest. His face rests in the crook of her neck, and she breathes in his scent. Regina goes to full on sobbing now, hiccuping with every cry. He left her with an angel, who she would cherish. But her savior, who gave her a happy ending, was gone.